Dr. Karen Devine:

I am just Karen. I agree that refuelling planes and the transit of US troops through Shannon on their way to a theatre of war does breach the international law of neutrality. It means we are not neutral. When the Government agreed to do that, it broke the law on neutrality. Given that neutrality is not in the Irish Constitution, there is nothing anyone can do about that. It is a government decision. Dr. Horgan did take a case against the State for these actions, claiming it was a breach of international law. The judge agreed that it was a breach of the customary international law on neutrality but, because it is not in the Constitution, as a judge his hands were tied. Dr. Horgan was right. Allowing the transit of troops is specifically prohibited in the Hague Convention of 1907, the international law on neutrality.

It is important to differentiate. There is a lot of talk about the United Nations and Ireland's participation in it. Transit of troops through Shannon has nothing to do with a United Nations mandate. It is a bilateral agreement between the Irish and US Governments. Talking about the UN is a red herring in that respect. The UN does not force states to provide troops or get involved in wars. The point of the UN is to regulate the use of force. The UN does not mandate a war; it mandates a response to a threat of war or a war that has broken out.

Mr. Smyth is right in saying that Ireland is moving towards participation in peace enforcement missions, which are very distinct from peacekeeping missions. Peacekeeping is when we are asked by parties who are in conflict to come in and maintain a truce. The parties involved in the conflict want our presence to keep the peace so that negotiations can continue and the conflict can be resolved. There are very important, though subtle, differences between this and peace enforcement.

One could say that the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, to which Ireland contributes about five troops, is basically a way for the Government to fly the flag. Once one member of the Defence Forces is involved in an operation, our flag gets hoisted and we are considered to be present in that mission. The ISAF peace enforcement mission in Afghanistan does not involve Irish soldiers in actual peace enforcement activities. Irish soldiers are carrying out bomb disposal there. There is also an administrative individual in the operation's headquarters. Ireland has never been involved in actual peace enforcement in practice. That is a distinction that should be made.

I may have gotten it wrong or been unclear in terms of what Deputy Halligan picked up from what I was saying. As a scholar who has been studying neutrality for 20 years, to me, what neutrality means is very clear cut. It means not participating in wars, maintaining independence so as to be able to resist any great power pressure to get involved in wars, and being impartial in respect of the sides involved in a war. This is an established norm in international law. The Irish public's concept of neutrality correlates very well with this international legal concept and its associated rights, duties and obligations. The Irish people clearly did not want the Government to sanction the transit of troops through Shannon. In that respect, neutrality is a way for the people to try to limit the behaviour of the Government. I hope that answers the Deputies' questions.